NCTO says USTR’s textile mechanism under Section 301 forced labour actions could disadvantage US textile manufacturers.
The planned relief would cover textile and apparel imports from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia linked to imports of US cotton and textiles.
The group says it will work with the administration on implementation and seek measures to reshore production.
The mechanism would offer relief from Section 301 duties for textile and apparel imports from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia based on those economies’ imports of US cotton and textiles through tariff-rate quotas, according to NCTO. Textile inputs and machinery that are not available domestically were not exempted.
Kim Glas, president and chief executive officer, NCTO said: “No other industry has been more disadvantaged by forced labor than the US textile industry, which employs 453,000 workers and has lost 41 plants over the past two plus years. We remain strongly concerned that USTR’s textile mechanism will harm the very domestic manufacturers the administration seeks to help.”
NCTO said the tariff benefits for Asia would come at the expense of US textile manufacturers and the Western Hemisphere, which it described as the destination for 70 per cent of total annual US textile and apparel exports. US apparel imports from major Asian supplier countries that use textile components from China, including Bangladesh and Indonesia, increased by double digits last year.
Asia’s US market share has risen from 77 per cent to 79 per cent since 2019, while the Western Hemisphere’s share has narrowed from 16 per cent to 12 per cent. Removing Section 301 duties on apparel imports from Asian countries would accelerate these trends.
It further welcomed the exclusion of qualifying apparel and textile goods entering the US duty-free under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) or the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) from the Section 301 tariffs.
Enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act should be stepped up to support the domestic textile industry and drive demand for US cotton, added the release.
The textile body further said that inclusion of raw cotton in the mechanism would create an offshoring incentive by lowering the cost of Asian apparel imports that compete with manufacturing in the US and the Western Hemisphere, raising cotton prices for US textile mills and providing a tariff reward to Asian producers. It added that the mechanism would not open market opportunities for US yarns and fabrics because of Asia’s reliance on subsidised textile inputs.
NCTO and the apparel and retail industry had backed an alternative mechanism proposal to USTR that the council said has the potential to double US textile exports, spur growth and investment in the US and the Western Hemisphere, and address forced labour concerns.
NCTO will continue to work with the administration as the mechanism is implemented and seek measures to reshore manufacturing and stabilise regional textile and apparel supply chains.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk
